1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sets of lights that are arranged on an external surface of an automobile or vehicle to communicate a signal to other drivers and pedestrians and in particular to such light devices that capable of illuminating in dynamic patterns to enhance the information communicated to others.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, turn signals on vehicles typically consist of one or more lamps or light bulbs and flash in well-established constant time intervals. The flashing light bulbs indicate the direction of turn by the sheer position of the flashing lamp in relation to the center of the vehicle. That is, information that the vehicle is turning or is about to turn to the right is communicated to other drivers and pedestrians by a flashing turn signal light located on the right-hand side of the vehicle, ordinarily both on the front-right corner of the vehicle and on the rear-right corner of the vehicle. Also, occasionally, the vehicle is equipped with similar turn signal lights on other external surfaces of the vehicle, such as the casings around the outer rearview mirrors or the like.
The lamps alone, therefore, do not indicate the direction of turn. Instead, it is their positioning in relation to the center of the vehicle that communicate the direction of the intended turn. This is insufficient when the center of the vehicle is not easily determined by others, such as in the many circumstances of limited visibility, including nighttime and during inclement weather.
The lamps themselves are also not dynamic in that they fail to communicate any information about the magnitude of the turn, the rate of turn, the speed of the car as it enters the turn or during the turn, or the direction of the car (forward or reverse) as it initiates the turn. Instead, existing turn signal lamps involve a simple flasher unit connected in series to cause the lamp to light up and turn off in regular and constant intervals.
The current turn signal lights are also only operated manually, switched on by the driver and switched off either by the driver or by a rudimentary ratcheted release mechanism. There are often instances in current signaling systems therefore when the ratcheting mechanism turns off the turn signal lamps prematurely, before the turn is complete. Likewise, there are often other instances when the mechanism does not switch off the lamp at all, such as when the turn angle is gradual or small in magnitude or when the operator mistakenly turned on the turn signal. The ratcheted release fails in the above two cases, as it is not position sensitive, magnitude sensitive, nor rate sensitive.
Another instance where the racheted system fails is when a turn in one direction is being made and an immediate turn in the opposite side has to be made; an example is when one is turning right into an intersection but have to change lanes immediately to the left.